A system for raising pigs: an outside daughter-in-law Jin Qiaoling shares her experience
Because of my village posting, I came to know a capable pig farmer in Jianfeng Group, Chaoyang Village, Yachuan Town, Fenggang County. She is an outside daughter-in-law named Jin Qiaoling.
On one trip to the countryside, I met Jin Qiaoling, whom people were talking about, and spoke with her. She truly lived up to her reputation. Looking just past 40, Jin Qiaoling was plainly but neatly dressed, and her speech and bearing showed the expression and temperament of a city person. She spoke with us in perfectly standard Mandarin, confirming what the villagers said in praise of her: Jin Qiaoling is hardworking, capable, able to endure hardship, skilled in technique, low-key and virtuous, and a leader for local villagers in escaping poverty and becoming better off.
As a child, Jin Qiaoling followed her working father from Henan to live in Shaoyang, Hunan. Later, after her parents' work changed and the family moved to Changsha and settled there, she was admitted to work at China Construction Fifth Engineering Bureau. In 1992 she fell in love with Shi Shengming, a young man from Fenggang who was working in Changsha, and they married in 1995. Later, because of enterprise restructuring, Jin Qiaoling was laid off, and the couple worked in Changsha for 16 years. After struggling for years in the construction industry, the couple decided, for market reasons, to leave the city and return to their hometown to start a business. In 2011 they returned to Ping'an Group, Chaoyang Village, Yachuan, her husband's hometown, and after investigating many options decided to develop pig farming.
As someone who grew up in the city, had never done farm work and had no pig-raising experience, she drew doubts from many people. A series of problems such as breeding techniques, livestock disease prevention and control, and market price risks lay before Jin Qiaoling. The neighbors thought she was just acting on a momentary impulse and that it would not last long. Relatives and friends also kindly advised her that investing several hundred thousand yuan was risky and told her to think it over carefully before deciding. But the headstrong Jin Qiaoling really did not believe in bad luck, so she began adjusting land use and handling the procedures. While using the 200,000 yuan she had earned from working to build pens, she also went online to check information and visited experts to learn pig-raising techniques.
She said only she knew the hardships of starting a business. Once the purchased piglets entered the pens, her savings were nearly used up, and the feed needed each day by 200 pigs cost several hundred yuan daily. In 2012 the couple faced financial hardship at home. In order to keep her pig business going, they decided the husband would continue working away from home, and the heavy burden of several hundred pigs fell on her alone. Besides busying herself every day with the eating, drinking, defecating and urinating of 200 pigs, Jin Qiaoling spent the rest of her time studying.
According to Jin Qiaoling, more than 5 years of ups and downs have brought her certain economic benefits and also produced good social benefits. Through learning about breeding, she accumulated experience, basically mastered breeding techniques, and set an example for surrounding farmers. At present, small-scale farmers nearby number 20 households. "Livestock must be raised like people, and you must connect with them heart to heart. For example, in terms of pen temperature and sanitation, only if people feel comfortable can the management be considered up to standard." These simplest words of hers spread among those around her. Many farmers come to consult her when they encounter problems, and she passes on the breeding techniques she has learned to farming households. "Although I am an outside girl, I have plenty of close sisters here!" she said. By providing piglets to poor households and supplying feed, the people find it both convenient and reassuring, and I can also obtain reasonable profit.
The hardships of the past five years were not in vain. In the first two years she accumulated experience and made some profit. The total pig inventory grew from 40 head in 2003 to 400 head slaughtered in 2005. She now has 2 high-quality breeding boars, 10 adult sows and 10 gilt sows. This year, affected by the newly built pens, at least 200 head will be slaughtered, and last year alone her income was nearly 200,000 yuan. Speaking of these achievements, she said, "It is not important that I made a profit; what is more important is that I received support from the land management and animal husbandry departments. When I was financially tight, I received a 50,000 yuan micro-enterprise subsidy from the industry and commerce department. The year before last, a wind disaster severely damaged the pen roofs. The animal husbandry bureau immediately came to express sympathy and provided 10,000 yuan to add asbestos tile roofing."
When talking about her feelings on returning home to start a business, the usually unsmiling Jin Qiaoling showed a slight smile between her brows and eyes. She said, "Any entrepreneurial undertaking cannot be separated from willpower and spirit. I want to do something while I am young so that I will not regret it when I am old, so I am mentally prepared for failure and hardship. My husband working away from home is partly to avoid family risk. Returning home to start a business lets me fulfill my filial duties and raise my children."
Speaking of future plans, she is very confident and prepares to expand the scale to an annual slaughter of more than 1,000 head, continue developing improved high-quality sows and breeding pigs, establish a pig farming professional cooperative, raise the breeding level of cooperative members, and do some truly practical things to help the surrounding people move from escaping poverty to a moderately prosperous life.
(Fenggang County External Publicity Center)